Mars Incorporated, the international confectionary and pet food company best known for making M&Ms, Snickers, and Mars bars, has been making significant headway in its sustainability program, including renovating its Hackettstown, New Jersey headquarters to be more energy and water efficient. Lauren Nodzak, spokesperson for Mars Incorporated North America, explains some of the technical ins and outs of the renovation and also tells of future plans for the company's eco-transformation.
Tell me about some of the technical aspects of Mars Incorporated’s new solar garden in Hackettstown, New Jersey—how big is it? How many panels is it comprised of? Do you have a figure of how much energy it will provide?
With more than 28,000 solar panels at the Hackettstown, NJ site for Mars Chocolate North America, the solar garden provides two megawatts of solar power during peak hours, which is equivalent to approximately 20 percent of the plant’s peak energy consumption. The solar garden will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 1,000 metric tons, equivalent to removing 190 vehicles from the road each year. The project is the largest solar facility installed in New Jersey by a food manufacturing plant.
What kind of funding went into the solar garden and the renovations? Was it privately funded or were there other contributors?
PSEG Solar Source owns the system, which is located on Mars Chocolate North America’s property in Hackettstown, and Mars has contracted for the entire output of the system.
Mars did not receive funding from government entities for the solar garden. However, the project was made possible by benefits offered federally from the investment tax credit and accelerated depreciation allowance and the Solar Renewable Energy Credits program in New Jersey.
In recognition of Mars Chocolate North America's investment in its corporate headquarters, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is working with the company to allocate funding through its InvestNJ Program.
Tell me about the newly renovated headquarters - what makes it green? What kinds of technologies are employed to reduce its energy consumption?
At Mars Chocolate North America, we are committed to providing an efficient and environmentally friendly working environment for Mars associates, and we want to attract all generations to work at our Hackettstown facility. The renovations are very environmentally friendly. We used low emitting materials, added skylights for natural light, installed water-saving fixtures, added new efficient lighting and made improvements to the heating and cooling systems. We also used the renovation as an opportunity to improve our environmental practices, such as green cleaning supplies and enhanced carpooling and recycling programs. The improvements will reduce our consumption of energy and water, as well as reduce our carbon footprint.
In addition, we are planning to upgrade the cafeteria and the Research and Development area, and we’ll install new Peanut Roasting Equipment in early 2010. When our renovation is fully complete, we can apply for Gold LEED Certification, which is the US benchmark for sustainable building design.
The press release mentions that the new headquarters will use 30 percent less water—how is this being accomplished?
At our Hackettstown site for Mars Chocolate North America, water-conserving fixtures installed in the renovated facilities will reduce water usage by more than 30 percent. Low-flow faucets and fixtures will provide significant savings with no loss in performance.
Do other Mars U.S. manufacturing facilities use green technology? If not, are there any future plans for greening this facility?
The Mars, Inc sustainability program is focused on several areas, one of which is making its site operations completely sustainable in a generation. This commitment focuses on reducing our waste, our carbon footprint, and our water impact across all sites around the world. The use of alternative energy sources, as with the solar garden at our Mars Chocolate North America Hackettstown site, is certainly part of this effort. Another great example of a Mars Chocolate North America facility that relies, in part, on an alternative energy source is our plant in Waco, Texas, where we make several brands, including Starburst, Skittles, and Snickers. It is an amazing project involving the collection of naturally produced methane gas from the city of Waco’s landfill, and piping it to the plant where it is used to produce steam in the boilers. Using this otherwise “wasted” renewable natural resource has wide-reaching benefits. Experts estimate that it will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equal to more than 2,000 vehicles. That’s also equivalent to reducing oil consumption by 24,000 barrels per year or planting 2,900 acres of forest.
Comments, Pingbacks:
No Comments/Pingbacks for this post yet...
This post has 1 feedback awaiting moderation...
